A Clay County judge running for re-election sued her opponent and the county election supervisor Tuesday, claiming her challenger’s candidacy is unlawful, according to court documents.
Seventh Judicial Circuit Court Judge Howard Maltz is slated to hear the case Friday, June 8.
Clay County Judge Kristina Mobley filed an emergency motion to require Chris Chambless, Clay County election supervisor, to scratch Lucy Ann Hoover’s name from ballots and de-certify her candidacy ahead of the Aug. 28 primary election for court judge.
Mobley’s motion states she met all candidacy requirements by Tuesday, May 1, the second day of the qualifying period. The motion states Hoover, a visiting professor at the University of North Florida, arrived at the Clay County Supervisor of Elections office on Friday, May 4, the last day to qualify to run. She reportedly entered the office less than 90 minutes before the noon deadline.
With no one else in line, Hoover obtained all forms on the spot and worked to complete them under the looming deadline, the motion states. She filed three of five required documents after the deadline passed and needed to amend two submissions, according to the suit.
Chambless said Hoover was in the office before noon and that, collectively, his office believes she is properly qualified to run for judge. The motion states Hoover was indeed in the office before noon, but arrived “completely unprepared to qualify.”
Documents available on the website for Chambless’ office say the election supervisor’s office received the Statement of Candidate for Mobley, whose position requires her to run, in November, and the rest of her forms by May 1.
Meanwhile, the office stamped many of Hoover’s completed documents after noon May 4. One form listing her campaign treasurer and primary depository bank is stamped May 7 at 2:52 p.m.
Mobley’s suit says Florida candidates have previously run for positions after missing submission deadlines. “However, there is no Florida case whose holding would permit qualification for Defendant Hoover under the facts in the instant case,” the motion reads. “The fault of Defendant Hoover’s untimely qualification was entirely her own.”
The motion states unless Chambless removes Hoover from ballots, the court will leave county residents with uncertainty. In a plea for the public interest, the motion concludes a judge who could not meet her own deadlines would be an unreliable enforcer of future deadlines.
Efforts to reach Hoover for comment on the suit were unsuccessful Thursday.
